10 Oldest Marvel Movie & Show Releases Of All Time

10 Oldest Marvel Movie & Show Releases Of All Time

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Marvel movies and TV shows have been around long before the advent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the comic book company having a shockingly far-reaching history of live-action adaptations. When most think of Marvel films pre-dating the MCU, the Fox X-Men movies, Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy, and perhaps even the Fox Fantastic Four duology all might spring to mind. But the red banner of Marvel has flown in movies and shows far older than these early 2000s escapades, even if they aren’t as famous.

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For the most part, Marvel’s oldest live-action adaptations were stuck in the realm of low-budget daytime TV, making for dramas with pitifully small production values compared to the high-flying comic book pages they sought to bring to life. While plenty of superhero movies with low budgets can work, Marvel’s most ancient offerings do struggle with relevancy in the modern day due to their roughness around the edges. Still, there’s a lot of charm and value to be appreciated from the first attempts at adapting Marvel comic books.

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10

Captain America

1944

Captain America punches someone in his 1944 Serial Film

As a pulp superhero more or less created for use in propaganda during the Second World War, it’s no wonder that Captain America earned the privilege of being the first Marvel superhero to be adapted for live-action. The very first theatrical release for the company, made back when Marvel Comics was still called Timely Comics, 1944’s Captain America was released when the world was still embroiled in the throes of World War II. Despite this, the film actually remains at quite a far remove from real-world politics, pitting Captain America against a supervillain called The Scarab.

The film’s production company, Republic Pictures, was famous for making huge changes to the source material of their movie adaptations, and Captain America was no exception. There is no mention in the film of super soldier serum, Captain America doesn’t use a shield, and rather than Steve Rogers, Captain America’s secret identity is District Attorney Grant Gardner. Quite expensive for the time it was made, 1944’s Captain America is a hokey time capsule with a macabre legacy, as Captain America’s actor, Dick Purcell, passed away not long after filming, supposedly due to the strain placed on him by the film.

9

Spider-Man

1977

1977 spider-man on ledge of building

By far the most forgotten film in the expansive pantheon of Spider-Man movies, 1977 saw the cinematic breakthrough of actor Nicholas Hammond as Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man. The eponymous made-for-TV film acted as a pilot for the TV series, The Amazing Spider-Man, telling the now-famous origin story of Peter Parker being bit by a radioactive spider and gaining fantastic arachnid powers. The film was actually the first of a direct-to-TV trilogy made by Columbia Pictures, including Spider-Man Strikes Back in 1978 and Spider-Man: The Dragon’s Challenge in 1981.

All three Columbia Pictures Spider-Man films were made on a shoestring budget, and it certainly shows in many places. Rather than firing intricate streams of versatile web, Hammond’s Spider-Man launches a thick, ropey web that he then awkwardly swings from. Spider-Man goes up against an original villain, Guru, who attempts to hold the people of New York City hostage with his hypnosis in exchange for a dramatic sum of money. Even for being as old as it is, 1977’s Spider-Man has aged quite dramatically.

8

The Incredible Hulk

1977

Lou Ferrigno painted green as the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk series

Of all the Marvel live-action adaptations over 40 years old, the 1978 TV series The Incredible Hulk might be the most well-known. Beginning with a 2-hour movie pilot just like the Spider-Man series, The Incredible Hulk famously starred bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno painted green as the titular beast, morphing out of Bill Bixby’s Dr. David Banner (not Bruce, to distance the show from the comics) in times of extreme duress. The series slightly changes Hulk’s origin, with Dr. Banner experimenting on himself with gamma radiation after the death of his wife in a car accident rather than atomic bomb exposure.

Both the original film and the TV series are still beloved staples of 70s nostalgia today. Lou Ferrigno is a natural as the brooding monster, and makes a great case for the use of simple makeup and muscles to portray The Hulk rather than the elaborate CGI creature creations of today. Between Hulk and Spider-Man, CBS had a monopoly on Marvel property exhibitions for a long time.

7

The Amazing Spider-Man

1978

nicholas hammond as the amazing spider-man in the 1970s

Bringing back Nicholas Hammond from the TV movie, The Amazing Spider-Man sought to replicate the success of The Incredible Hulk with another ongoing Marvel hero adaptation. Here, Spider-Man continues his superhero career after the defeat of Guru, crawling about a New York City that looks suspiciously like Los Angeles. In tandem with the popular 1967 Spider-Man cartoon, the series was a key factor in pushing Spider-Man’s popularity in pop culture.

Just like the pilot movie, The Amazing Spider-Man didn’t care much for comic accuracy. Spider-Man himself and, of all people, J. Jonah Jameson are the only recurring characters familiar to the comics, with the show not even featuring any Spider-Man villains. Combined with the low budget, low stakes, and limited run time, it’s no wonder that The Amazing Spider-Man didn’t have the same cultural staying power as The Incredible Hulk.

6

Dr. Strange

1978

Doctor Strange wearing his purple suit in his 1978 movie

Not every attempt by CBS to turn a Marvel superhero into a beloved daytime drama worked out in their favor, with the pilot movie Dr. Strange failing to materialize into an ongoing series. Wrote and produced exclusively for television, Dr. Strange had the honor of Stan Lee himself serving as a consultant on production, though he apparently couldn’t stop the title from going with “Dr.” instead of “Doctor” as the comic covers had done. The plot centers on the evil villainess of Arthurian legend, Morgan le Fay, attempting to defeat Dr. Strange in order to summon her dark master.

Dr. Strange was quite different from the likes of the other live-action CBS pilots. Thanks to Stan Lee’s intervention, the film is actually quite comic-accurate, featuring characters straight out of the source material, like Wong, Clea, and Morgan le Fay. The point of Stephen Strange’s origins as a sorcerer isn’t over belabored either, though the film makes him out to be a psychiatrist rather than a surgeon. Perhaps because of its more fantastical natura, a Dr. Strange series was ultimately not picked up by CBS.

5

Captain America/Captain America II: Death Too Soon

1979

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Captain America's 1979 Costume

The second live-action incarnation of Captain America, CBS continued their hot streak with Marvel characters with a made-for-TV duology centering on Steve Rogers. By the 70s, World War II was still not so distant a memory, so Captain America is simply the child of a WWII vet rather than a frozen specimen. In the first film, he takes a super soldier steroid called the Full Latent Ability Gain (or F.L.A.G.) formula to save his life, granting him the classic Captain America powers in the process. In the first film, he takes on a villain who threatens a community with a neutron bomb.

Released back-to-back with the first film, the sequel, Captain America II: Death Too Soon has Cap go up against the deranged war criminal General Miguel, played by none other than Christopher Lee of Dracula fame. The duology was insistent on Captain America’s reliance on a tricked-out motorcycle during his adventures. This resulted in one of the most bizarre Captain America costumes of all time, featuring a winged motorcycle helmet and a plasticy half-transparent shield.

4

The Incredible Hulk Returns

1988

The Incredible Hulk Returns Bill Bixby as David Banner and  Eric Allan Kramer as Thor

Though the original TV series ended in 1982, Lou Ferrigno’s Hulk was popular enough to get a revival movie 6 years later with the aptly-named The Incredible Hulk Returns. After years of searching for a cure to his condition, Dr. David Banner begins the film seemingly closer than ever to finally ridding himself of his unique anger issues once and for all. However, a monkey wrench is thrown into his breakthrough with the sudden appearance of a new Marvel hero, Thor.

Acting as the first live-action adaptation of Marvel’s Thor, The Incredible Hulk Returns is a fascinating picture. Interestingly, Thor’s old alter-ego from the comics, Dr. Donald Blake, is a key character, though he’s treated as a separate entity from Thor, accidentally summoning the God of Thunder with his treatment of Mjölnir. Because of this inclusion, this Thor is actually more comic-accurate than the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version, at least until the character was changed and Dr. Blake was done away with to better match the modern movies.

3

The Trial Of The Incredible Hulk

1989

Lou Ferrigno's Hulk and Rex Smith's Daredevil pose together in promotional image of The Trial of the Incredible Hulk

Not yet ready to relinquish the CBS version of The Hulk, the network was eager to follow-up their revival film with a sequel only one year after The Incredible Hulk Returns. Once again, Hulk is paired up with another Marvel hero in The Trial of The Incredible Hulk, this time taking on the villain Kingpin with the help of Daredevil. True to the title, the film sees Dr. David Banner go on trial after transforming into The Hulk to save a woman from one of Kingpin’s criminals, defended by none other than one Matt Murdock.

After the success of the Netflix Daredevil show, it’s quite jarring to see Daredevil’s classic black origins outfit represented in such an old project. The film attempted to be a backdoor pilot for a new Daredevil series, but the concept sadly fell through as with Dr. Strange. Notably, The Trial of the Incredible Hulk was the first film to establish the time-honored tradition of Stan Lee cameos in Marvel movies, featuring Lee as a jury foreman in a dream sequence.

2

The Punisher

1989

Dolph Lundgren in The Punisher reloading a rifle

The Punisher has gotten some of the most adaptations of any Marvel character, with Jon Bernthal and Thomas Jane both leading their own projects. However, Frank Castle began in live-action thanks to the efforts of decorated 80s action movie star Dolph Lundgren, most famous for his role as the cold-blooded Ivan Drogo in Rocky IV. 1989’s The Punisher tells the story of Castle’s origins as the vengeful killer, this time a police detective whose family is murdered by the mafia.

The Punisher is more of an action crime thriller than a superhero movie, full of criminal intrigue and vicious gunfights. That being said, the movie makes some odd additions to the Punisher mythos, including The Punisher’s homeless sidekick “Shake” who speaks in rhyme and his penchant for killing with skull-emblazoned throwing knives. Though the film wasn’t a critical hit at the time of its release, retrospective reviews of it have been far kinder, establishing an underground cult following.

1

Howard The Duck

1989

Howard holding a bottle of hand soap in Howard The Duck.

After 1944’s Captain America, Marvel Comics would see their first theatrically-released film adaptation in the United States in decades with Howard the Duck. A bizarre choice for Marvel’s first modern blockbuster, Howard the Duck follows the titular water fowl as he’s inexplicably transported from Duckworld, populated entirely by anthropomorphic ducks, to Earth. From there, he falls in love with a human musician named Beverly, and eventually has to fight off another strange alien invader called the Dark Overlord.

Produced by George Lucas, Howard the Duck certainly has the most impressive visual effects of any Marvel movie produced before the turn of the century. That being said, the film is truly a bad egg, considered to be one of the worst superhero movies of all time. It’s no wonder the Marvel Cinematic Universe hasn’t been keen to push a solo project featuring their own version of Howard the Duck thanks to the movie’s lasting negative fallout.

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Category: Entertainment